Elaborating on his tax proposals, Goyal said that the decision to raise the rebate for people having annual income of Rs 5 lakhs was to provide greater certainty about tax liability as salary payments to them is subject to Tax Deduction at Source (TDS).
The Minister said as per the calculations done by the officials, an individual having income of Rs 9 to Rs 9.5 lakh can escape income tax liability by taking advantage of the host of tax savings schemes under the Income Tax Act.
The proposal, Goyal added was welcomed within and outside the house and will provide requisite impetus to savings and boost economic growth.
He said that the Modi government during the last four- and-a-half years tried to benefit every section of society and tax payers.
As a result, he said, the tax base in the country increased, the tax collection had doubled in the last five years and India has become the fastest growing major economy in the world.
Higher collections, he said, has enabled the government to earmark more resources for the socially and economically deprived sections of the society.
The Minister said that the proposal to raise standard deduction from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 and hiking TDS limit on interest income from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 will provide relief to senior citizens.
The housing sector, he added, will too get a a boost on account of the proposals including interest subvention, allowing capital gains tax exemption on purchase of two flats from proceeds of sale of a house and hiking rebate on repayment of home loans.
The government, he added, was working to ensure house for every citizen when India celebrates 75th year of Independence.
The government policies have helped in keeping the property prices under check, he said, adding the non- performing assets (NPAs) too has remained low in the sector, probably because "housewives insist that the home loans are repaid in time."
On the fiscal deficit numbers, the Minister said that as a chartered accountant he could have made some adjustments to keep the fiscal deficit to the targeted level of 3.3 per cent of the GDP for 2018-19, but did not indulge in window dressing and instead prepared the budget honestly.
As per the budget document the fiscal deficit during 2018-19 is expected to go up to 3.4 per cent of the GDP as against the target of 3.3 per cent.